Google Betrayed by China

Google, the preeminent Internet company in the world, has always claimed it's motto to be "Don't be Evil". Lofty goal in the corporate world, where becoming evil almost seems a question of when, not if. And yet, Google has succeeded for the most part. Critics abound for some of their actions and for the company as a whole. That is natural, and healthy even. I consider myself a Google fan, and constantly applaud and cheer their developments. However, I have also pointed out at times, issues with the company that don't seem to fit in a non-evil company, in my opinion. One of them was their decision to allow the Communist Party of China to censor some of their search results and products.

A few months ago, while in Shanghai, a friend of mine sent me a YouTube link. When I licked on it, I found YouTube (a Google company), was absolutely blocked. Not surprising, even if the video I wanted to watch was only of some goals in the Spanish league. Out of curiosity, I tried to access some websites I knew the Chinese government would probably have blocked. I was correct: all of them were blocked.

Why would a company that prides itself on not being evil and on putting people before everything else (a humanist company if there ever was one) would lend itself to such low blows against freedom? Sergey Brin's statement at the time was that along the lines that it is better to provide the Chinese people with some access to information, even if imperfect, than to simply deny it fully. Fair enough. If you ask me, the decision was also fueled by the amount of money to be made. No problems there - Google is still a public company with responsibilities to its shareholders, like it or not. But dealing so closely with the Chinese Communist Party might not have been ideal. As a quote from the 1999 film 8mm says,

"If you dance with the Devil, the Devil don't change. The Devil changes you."

As far as I can tell, this hasn't exactly happened. But Google did choose to play with fire and found its fingers burnt. Agreeing to censor the Internet in essence means stifling the freedom of the Chinese people, which in turns strengthens the Communist Party's hold over its people. The forces of change that have to come from within cannot appear if held back with help from without. And now, China has used resources obtained from Western companies to attempt to hack into e-mail accounts of human rights activists.

Google has taken the right position. On a letter published in Google's Official Blog, David Drummond, Google's Chief Legal Officer states that over the next few weeks they will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which they could operate an unfiltered search engine within [Chinese] law, if at all. Furthermore, they recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially their offices in China.

A walkout from China has been threatened by Google. This is truly the spirit of the "Don't be Evil" motto. Let's hope they follow it.